Changing times, changed priorities, changed attitudes

A Twaweza brief titled ‘The Beginning of the End? Priorities, performance and politics in Tanzania’ suggest that those who were interviewed listed different priorities compared to previous years. They are not alone in changing priorities, as the proposed government budget for the financial year 2017/2018 as presented by Finance minister Dr Philip Mpango has different priorities largely consisting of infrastructure projects. These are aimed to stimulate economic growth.

According to that brief, the issues people today identify as priorities in their lives are poverty/economics, food shortage and health issues, with infrastructure being near the bottom of their priorities and corruption; that perennial matter is at the bottom of the pile. That is an interesting finding as it brings to fore the question on our perception of corruption and whether the problem is no longer as prevalent as it has been for many years.

Needless to say, corruption being at the very bottom of the issues is a reflection of the current government’s efforts to root out that scourge even though there is a lot that is left to be desired for like strengthening anti-corruption bodies like the police force and the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau with giving them more autonomy and removing the later from Magogoni.

Most of the other issues raised in that brief more or less confirm point to patterns long identified in our politics.

Fewer citizens approving of their elected representatives. Voters in the country have developed what can best be termed as “defensive mechanism” against high expectations of the people they elect into office, and especially parliamentarians who are on the national stage and the president. MPs in Dodoma have continued to be sharply divided along party lines, and engage in national matters while issues which are more relevant to their constituents take a back seat.

By this time as well, voters have realized that so far some of the issues were merely election promises and have no any chance of being delivered for the remainder of this political term.

That dampens any enthusiasm for elected representatives. There is also the implementation of some key policies at the national level which have a direct bearing on day to day lives of voters and not all are affected in a favorable way, and this is what explains a decline in President Magufuli’s support even though for a president who won with less than 60 per cent of the votes, the “decrease’ as per the Twaweza brief is still a better outcome.

The relationship between Tanzanians and their political parties has always been an intriguing affair. Despite the country being a multiparty democracy, the majority still do not trust the opposition with governing the country as whole. Opposition parties are there as a wakeup call every now and then for CCM to behave at its best.

CCM and the majority of Tanzanians have a parent-child relationship, who might be estranged for many years but will come to the aid of the other in their hour of need. CCM has failed voters countless times but it has continued to be trusted to continue governing the country.

The leading opposition party, Chadema, is down on its luck, its support declining since 2013 which can be attributed to many factors including the departure of some of the leading minds and influential figures from the party like Zitto Kabwe and Dr Wilbroad Slaa, events of 2015 to the perception of voters with regard to how the current government is performing.

More troubling for the opposition, CCM has not lost its support in the rural areas where the majority of dependable voters reside and there is increasing political apathy. CUF, the other leading opposition party has its support on the decline as well and with its ongoing civil war, it is surely facing a risk of being politically relevant on the Mainland. Every election cycle, depending on the performance of the government of the day, voters “remind” CCM of their anger and frustrations by casting their votes for the opposition but not enough to topple the ruling party from power.

As much as times have changed with the priorities and attitudes, in many ways one gets the feeling of things remaining the same.